"Star Trek Enterprise" has done something to an extent that no other Trek series has done before -- hotly divide the fans in raging debates over the direction the show is taking, and the very essence of the so-called "Roddenberry Philosophy."

As the upcoming fourth season premiere grows closer, David A. Goodman -- writer and former consulting producer for the UPN series -- sheds some light on the direction of Season 4.

"I think the Xindi thing is done," Goodman told journalist Jeff Bond. "We may bring back Xindi characters, but the aspects of that story are finished. I don't think we'll see an end of the Temporal Cold War yet, and we're trying to figure out a way to make the upcoming year as challenging or more challenging than we did this year. I don't know if we'll go back to planet of the week exploring because the yearlong thing worked well."

Manny Coto, "Enterprise's" new chief showrunner series has made it clear that the series will be adopting a mini-arc scheme, whilst also exploring the roots of the franchise, by closing the gap between "Enterprise" and the original "Star Trek" series. Goodman was quick to confirm that move.

"Is our fan base made up of original series fans, or is our fan base people who want to see a slightly more realistic-looking show?" Goodman asked. "I don't know that (executive producers Rick Berman and Brannon Braga)are the biggest fans of the original series. A lot of people on the staff are huge original series fans -- Chris Black, Mike Sussman, Andre Bormanis, me, the special effects guys, the designers -- and we pitch stuff all the time, but the story has to work."

Speaking of the original series, will fans see some familiar faces in the new season?

"That's something we all want to do, and it's certainly a strong possibility," said Goodman. "I spent a lot of time last year developing a Gorn episode because I thought that given what you can do with today's effects -- if you think 'Arena,' (Kirk) hits him with a diamond fired from a cannon, and he's just a little groggy. I mean, this is a great monster. Given what you can do with CGI and limbs that can grow back, I spend a lot of time developing this Gorn story that Brannon liked, but we didn't have time to do it. So I may dust that off. And of course it's important to establish that they never call it a Gorn and you're never going to know that this is what is encountered later."

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